Canadian GP 2007

JUNE 10, 2007

Race Notes - Hamilton wins Canadian GP

Lewis Hamilton, Canadian GP 2007
© The Cahier Archive

Lewis Hamilton won the Canadian GP, in Montreal, today, taking his maiden Grand Prix victory for McLaren-Mercedes in only his sixth start. Nick Heidfeld finished second in the BMW-Sauber, while Alexander Wurz took third place in his Williams-Toyota.

Heikki Kovalainen in the Renault was fourth, Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari was fifth, Takuma Sato in the Super Aguri-Honda was sixth, Fernando Alonso in the second McLaren-Mercedes was seventh and Ralf Schumacher in the Toyota took the final point.

At the start Alonso came from second on the outside to try to take the lead, but went wide through the grass and was lost two spots, and Hamilton led from Heidfeld, Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Fisichella, Kubicam, Webber and Sato in tenth, while Jenson Button stalled on the grid.

On lap 3 Webber attempted to pass Kubica for eighth into the first corner and was spun, dropping him to 14th.

On lap 9 Scott Speed attempted to pass Wurz and touched wheels, putting the American out with front suspension damage.

By lap 10 Hamilton put in a string of fast laps to pull out a 7.7 second lead over Heidfeld, who was 1.8 seconds ahead of Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Fisichella, Kubica, Sato and Trulli in tenth.

On lap 18, Alonso went wide at the first corner, crossed the grass and lost third place to Massa.

On lap 20 Heidfeld was the first to pit from second place, coming back out in seventh, followed on lap 22 by the leader Hamilton and Webber.

On lap 22 the Safety Car was deployed after Adrian Sutil hit the wall at Turn Four, and Alonso and Rosberg dove into the pits.

When the pit opened on lap 25, Massa, Raikkonen, Fisichella, Kubica, Sato, Trulli and Luzzi all pitted.

Under yellow on lap 25, the order was Hamilton leading Heidfeld, Alonso, Rosberg, Barrichello, Coulthard, Kovalainen, Wurz, Davidson and Schumacher in tenth when the Saftey Car pulled in on lap 26

Approaching the hairpin on lap 26, Kubica was atempting to make an outside pass and touched the Toyota of Trulli and got onto the grass, hit the barrier hard and was launched into a barrel roll. The car came to a stop on its side and the medics attended to him within seconds, suffering an apparent broken leg, and was airlifted to the hospital for observation.

Coulthard and Kovalainen pitted and the Saftey Car was deployed again.

Under the Safety Car period, Alonso and Rosberg were handed a 10 second stop/go penalty for pitting while the pits were closed on the first Safety Car period.

On lap 30 Barrichello and Wurz made their first stops, while cleanup continued.

On lap 33 the Safety Car came in and the race continued. The next lap Rakkonen locked up into the hairpin and Sato passed him for 10th.

At lap 35 the order was Hamilton leading Heidfeld, Alonso, Rosberg, Davidson, Schumacher, Webber, Massa, Fisichella and Sato in tenth.

On lap 36 Alonso and Rosberg stopped to take their penalities, and rejoined 14th and 16th.

On lap 38 Davidson pitted while Trulli and Rosberg went side-by-side into the first corner and both spun, while Coulthard retired in the pits.

On lap 40 Schumacher made his first stop from third place, dropping to 12th, and Kovalainen pitted on lap 44.

At lap 45 the order was Hamilton leading Heidfeld by 6.4 seconds over Heidfeld, with Webber 21 seconds further back in third place, followed by Massa, Fisichella, Sato, Raikkonen, Alonso, Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher in tenth.

On lap 47 Heidfeld made his second stop followed by Hamilton from the lead, and Fisichella a lap later.

The same lap Albers pitted for damage from an off-track excursion, and the Safety Car was deployed once again to clean up the

On lap 51 Massa and Fisichella were giving black flags for exiting the pits while the red-light was displayed, both pitted and retired from the race.

On lap 52 Raikkonen, Alonso, Schumacher and Sato all pitted under yellow, Alonso getting ahead of the Ferrari of Raikkonen.

On lap 54 the race resumed with Webber pitted from second place. The order was Hamilton leading Heidfeld, Barrichllo, Wurz, Liuzzi, Trulli, Kovalainen, Alonso, Raikkonen and Schumacher in tenth.

At the end of the lap, Liuzzi brushed the wall in the final corner, Alonso went wide in the first corner and was passed by Trulli and Raikkonen, and the Safety Car was deployed yet another time.

On lap 58 Trulli pitted from sixth place dropping his car crashing into the barriers at the first corner when he rejoined the track.

At lap 60 the Safety Car pulled off and the race resumed once again, Alonso passing Schumacher into the hairpin for seventh place.

On lap 63 Barrichello pitted from third place, dropping back to 12th.

At lap 65 the order was Hamilton 5.0 seconds ahead of Heidfeld, Wurz, Kovalainen, Raikkonen, Alonso, Schumacher, Sato, Webber and Rosberg in tenth.

On lap 66, Sato passed Schumacher to take seventh place, and then passed Alonso for sixth place on lap 68.